The Pen is Quicker than the Eye . . .
It was a pleasure being a guest contributor to Jean Trebek’s wonderfully uplifting website InsideWink.com. The first article I wrote is entitled “Magic Lessons.” Click here for a short read.
The second one is entitled "Magic Moments." Click here to read.
(I encourage you to subscribe to Inside Wink, where to quote, there are "No ads. No hidden fees. Just lots of love.")
Photo on the left:
Bernie at his home showing Jean & Alex Trebek
an inexplicable magic trick.
The second one is entitled "Magic Moments." Click here to read.
(I encourage you to subscribe to Inside Wink, where to quote, there are "No ads. No hidden fees. Just lots of love.")
Photo on the left:
Bernie at his home showing Jean & Alex Trebek
an inexplicable magic trick.
Audio Magic - Hearing is Believing . . .
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Lend me your ears . . .
I enjoyed performing magic on my pal comedian Jeff Ross’ “radio” Podcasts. How’s that possible? No trick photography was utilized— but it was a shame to waste a face like mine on a radio Podcast. Click on the links below to be bewildered, amazed & entertained: thickskin.libsyn.com/magic-to-tragic My magic intro starts at 7:05 minutes. thickskin.libsyn.com/bruce-willis-post-roast My magic starts at 43:15 minutes. thickskin.libsyn.com/believing-jussie-and-other-touchy-subjects-0 My magic begins at 40:28 minutes. In this episode the only magic is my one-on-one conversation with Jeff and his podcast producer, Ed Larson. Click HERE to watch this one on You Tube. Jeff calls his studio "The Bunker." I think it's more like an asylum, complete with padded rubber walls and a group of zanies. Here’s a link to Jeff’s website: http://roastmastergeneral.com/ If you haven’t seen him in person, you are missing a great comedic experience. |
On the left is my favorite podcast complete with video with my pals Jeff Ross, Fred Willard, and Ed Larson. God isn't the only one who works in mysterious ways as evidenced by the inexplicable mental magic demonstration I perform at 41:55 minutes. |
Magic Story Monte Hall Told Me . . .
Game Show maven Monte Hall.
Game show icon Monte Hall of "Let's Make a Deal" fame told me a story about George Burns fooling around with a deck of cards at a table in the Friars Club. He looked up at Monte and said "Take a card." Monte obliged by selecting a card, looking at it, and then returning it to the deck, all at the request of Burns. Burns shuffled the cards, then with much fanfare and bravado he removed one card and proudly proclaimed "This was your card!" Monte sheepishly told him that it was NOT his card, and which point the mischievous Burns tossed the deck on the table and said, "Monte, what do you think I am, a f#%&ing magician!"
Magical Times with Phyllis Diller . . .
By the way, my friend, the late comedian Phyllis Diller, would often use that same George Burns line to describe me. She loved my magic and would frequently introduce me to people and say “He’s not only a lawyer— he’s a f#%&ing magician!”
We would play “Diller Gin,” a game she invented with some screwy rules. We would play at her house for a penny a point and listen to jazz. We not only would play gin, but we would also drink it. She would boast that “I taught two people to drink— Elliott Gould and Bernie Shine.” And I always add that “It wasn’t so much that she taught us to drink, but rather she drove us to it!”
She didn’t like to lose at cards, and on those occasions when she did, she would accuse me of using my card manipulation skills to my advantage. On the left are a couple of typical notes she would write and initial on the bottom of her personalized score pad when I would win. (Click here for a remembrance of Phyllis that I penned for the Huffington Post.)
We would play “Diller Gin,” a game she invented with some screwy rules. We would play at her house for a penny a point and listen to jazz. We not only would play gin, but we would also drink it. She would boast that “I taught two people to drink— Elliott Gould and Bernie Shine.” And I always add that “It wasn’t so much that she taught us to drink, but rather she drove us to it!”
She didn’t like to lose at cards, and on those occasions when she did, she would accuse me of using my card manipulation skills to my advantage. On the left are a couple of typical notes she would write and initial on the bottom of her personalized score pad when I would win. (Click here for a remembrance of Phyllis that I penned for the Huffington Post.)
The Best Review I Ever Received . . .
Bernie, Mary & Fred Willard with
Felix the Cat in Bernie's home.
Mary and Fred Willard are wonderful friends. Mary is a remarkably talented writer, and Fred an Emmy-winning comedic actor. They also are an appreciative audience for my magic. On one visit to my home, they asked me to show them a trick, and in response I offered something new I had perfected. I asked Mary to merely THINK OF ANY CARD and name it out loud. She replied, “The four of clubs.” There were two boxed decks of cards on the table; one box contained red-backed cards and the other contained blue-backed cards, neither of which I had touched. I asked her to select one of the decks, and she chose the blue deck. Without me touching it, she removed it from the box and discovered that the only card missing from it was the four of clubs. We then turned our attention to the red-backed deck— when it was opened and examined Mary discovered that the four of clubs in that deck was the ONLY BLUE-BACKED card in the red deck! At the conclusion of this trick, Mary Willard gave me that best review I ever had, she proclaimed, “Bernie, that’s not a magic trick— that’s witchcraft!”
The Best Review I Never Received . . .
Some years ago a friend of mine mailed me this folded copy of The Los Angeles Times with a headline that certainly grabbed my attention. I thought to myself "At last they recognize my genius!" Not so fast . . . when I opened the full page was nothing more than an ad for the movie SHINE starring Geoffrey Rush.
The Worst Review I Ever Received . . .
Janice, Sarah, Donald Silverman and Bernie.
Donald Silverman is comedian Sarah Silverman’s father, with a perverse sense of humor, perhaps one that inspired her to pursue a comedic path. He is also a poker player, so on a visit to my home I showed him something I thought would be impressive. I shuffled a deck of cards several times, cut them, then spread them face up on the table to reveal that I had managed to separate all of the red cards from all of the black cards— something most people would find to be a remarkable feat of prestidigitation. Not Donald. He looked over the face up cards for a moment or two, looking for any mistakes. When he found none, he drolly dismissed my legerdemain skills and asserted, “Oh, big deal— you just got lucky.”
What is a Deck of Cards? It All Depends on Who You Ask . . .
My friend, magic icon Dia Vernon. would often tell a story of how he started doing card tricks at age 7. When he first displayed his skills to his Victorian mother, the woman was appalled by what she saw and admonished her little boy that she was ashamed of him and that cards were “tools of the devil.” Vernon rejoiced, “That’s all I needed to hear— I knew I had found my life’s calling!”
TV personality Wink Martindale has a very different viewpoint, as demonstrated by his renowned recording entitled "Deck of Cards.”
TV personality Wink Martindale has a very different viewpoint, as demonstrated by his renowned recording entitled "Deck of Cards.”
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Wink & Sandy Martindale and Bernie Shine
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Teaching a New Dog an Old Trick . . .
Maggie likes playing cards. People say she is smart. I'm not so sure. When we play gin, I win 8 out of 10 games. She claims I cheat.
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Click on arrow above to play video.
Explanation of trick: I secretly whispered name of card to Maggie. |
Maggie & Bernie
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You may quote me . . .
The older I get, the more I believe in what I can't explain or understand, even more than the things that are explainable and understandable."
―Lillian Gish, Legendary Actress.
"You can either live logically or magically, it's your choice. ― Sadhguru, yogi & mystic
Alice: "That's impossible." The Mad Hatter: "Only if you believe it is." ―Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventurers in Wonderland
"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” ― J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
"Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business." ―Tom Robbins
"I've wrestled with reality for 35 years . . . and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." ― Spoken by Elwood P. Dowd in the film Harvey
"All of life is an illusion. You have never even seen your own face, but rather only its reflection in the mirror—and even that was reversed reality."
―Bernie Shine
―Lillian Gish, Legendary Actress.
"You can either live logically or magically, it's your choice. ― Sadhguru, yogi & mystic
Alice: "That's impossible." The Mad Hatter: "Only if you believe it is." ―Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventurers in Wonderland
"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” ― J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
"Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business." ―Tom Robbins
"I've wrestled with reality for 35 years . . . and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." ― Spoken by Elwood P. Dowd in the film Harvey
"All of life is an illusion. You have never even seen your own face, but rather only its reflection in the mirror—and even that was reversed reality."
―Bernie Shine
